Software versioning

[turnerrainer]

AS AN Architect
I WANT only versioned code to be used in stage environment
SO THAT the content published would be previously verified

The scope of this issue is limited to once-only setup, which will then be taken over step-by-step as a normal processes of development

Acceptance Criteria

• Use git tags for versioning
• Only stage branch, only commits with version numbers are allowed
• On stage branch, all commits must contain -rc suffix to represent them as release candidates
• Provide release notes with cross-reference to related versions of Components and Modules
• Code can only be moved from one branch (environment) to another by using pull requests
• Pipelines will only be triggered when pushing to branches (environments), using changes on .env files as triggers

See https://github.com/buerokratt/Buerokratt-Chatbot/blob/dev/.env as an example

• Publish NoOps deployment documentation NoOps#152 as the scope of the issue

Versioning concept

• In dev, only hashes are used - no versioning
• In general, based on the concept of Semantic Versioning 2.0.0

Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, increment the:
MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes
MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner
PATCH version when you make backward compatible bug fixes
Additional labels for pre-release and build metadata are available as extensions to the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format.

• Version numbers consist of MINOR.MAJOR.PATCH
• All version numbers start with v as "version"

Based on an assumption that the end result will be v2.3.0

Dev environment

Active development takes place here
No versioning is done here

• Based on dev branch

Test environment

QA takes place here
Alpha releases for incomplete features

• Code committed to test branch
• Based on test branch's latest commit
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-alpha.1

If needed

• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-alpha.2
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-alpha.3
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-alpha.4

Beta releases for features that are expected to be completed, but need to be tested

• Based on test branch's latest alpha-versioned commit
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-beta.1

If needed

• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-beta.2
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-beta.3
• Beta release versioned as v2.3.0-beta.4

Stage environment

Expected to be fully functional and tested
Penetration testing takes place here if needed
Final testing before publishing as the latest stable version in main takes place here

• Based on test branch's latest beta-versioned commit
• Code committed to stage branch
• Relase candidates versioned as v2.3.0-rc.1

If needed

• Relase candidates versioned as v2.3.0-rc.2
• Relase candidates versioned as v2.3.0-rc.3
• Relase candidates versioned as v2.3.0-rc.4

Production environment

• Based on stage branch's latest rc-versioned commit
• Code committed to main branch
• Version v2.3.0

If needed

• Version v2.3.1
• Version v2.3.2
• Version v2.3.3